Lightforge: Requiem
by InsolentKnight
Summary: Pre-Lightforge AU. For decades, the Branwen's have loyally served the White Fang. When information is discovered that the Schnee are developing a new weapon against Freaks of all natures, Faunus twins Raven and Qrow are sent to investigate. Fate, however, has differing plans when Raven befriends Summer Rose, an elusive girl with strange powers and an equally elusive family history.
1. Prologue

**AN: So here's that prequel I mentioned that for Lightforge. For new readers, this follows the Lightforge AU that I've created. If you go to my profile, you can find the original. For Lightforge readers, Requiem will follow the story of STRQ, mostly through Raven's eyes. I do intend for this to have a more romance feel than Lightforge does and it does feel bittersweet at times, especially for those who have read Lightforge. You guys are already aware of the Team STRQ's fate. While Lightforge will discuss what happens to them, Requiem will go into more detail. It will also give a better explanation of some things that are going on in the world that directly affects the girls Lightforge. Last but not least, while this is technically a PolyParents thing, it mostly focuses on Rosebird. Anyway, enjoy! You guys get the prologue and Chapter 1 today!**

 **ooOOoo**

 _I'm a monster… Or so I've always been told. We're filthy creatures that were kept in secret for ages, but unlike so many others, we chose to walk among the humans. My brother says that my pride will cost me everything, but what is there for me to lose? The clan is the only thing that comes before that part of me and I will not clip my treasured wings as readily as he will._

Standing on the ledge of the tallest, she never felt as alive as when she basked under the moon's light. The night wind rustled her hair, freeing a frayed feather from her locks. The lone pinion danced past her crimson eyes and she caught it, letting her lips curve with elation. While others found discomfort in molting, she felt a deep sense of pride toward her lineage and she bore the pristine dark feathers and piercing red eyes her family was known for.

Clad in a crimson and black kimono, it would be Raven who would lead her people into the world they so rightfully deserved, and those damn hunters would fall beneath her power. She would be feared and her little brother, even if it was by only five minutes, would have to eat his words. For 12 years, he had maintained that her desires not pointless, but he would regret the love he had for the humans that cast them out. As a twin, he truly contrasted to her in all the ways that mattered most… but his existence would always be included in her dream. He was her other half – the one that kept her grounded.

Turning around, she leaned off the edge and plunged toward the city streets. It was such a rush, feeling the cool wind whipping through her hair. The sound was almost static, letting go of any thoughts that lingered from her days. As much as it was an addiction, it was an escape that provided a much needed release she couldn't find anywhere else, nor would she try. Spreading her arms, she closed her eyes to bask in the currents of air as they washed against her skin… Just a moment more and she would be ready… But suddenly, the rush of wind came to a stop.

Opening her eyes slowly, she found herself frozen in mid-air. The world has been washed of color, like an old still frame and everything was just as rigid. She attempted to move, but her body met her with complete resistance. It was like waking from a bad dream, but her body was still asleep… except she was stuck in mid-air. The pale adolescent shifted her eyes to the fingertips of her right hand, but it was another kind of movement that attracted her sights.

In this frozen otherworld of grayscale colors, there was only one thing with any color. An equally pale figure cloaked in white ascended toward her. As she was taken their arms, a splash of red hair billowed from within the confines of the hood. As they touched her, they resumed their fall and the world returned to its previous state of moody colors.

"Hey!" It was a young girl's voice. "Be careful! You could have died!"

"Get your hands off me!" Raven kicked her legs out, causing the stranger in white to lose their balance and ultimately drop her.

Expecting to hit the ground immediately, Raven found that the fall was a much further drop than she anticipated. Evidently, her so-called hero had chosen to land on a lamp pole. After dropping her, the strange had latched onto the pole in an attempt at self-preservation and let Raven plummet the rest of the way.

"Ow!"

"Oh my God!" In show of athleticism, the stranger dropped from the pole. Latching on to the lamp, she used her weight to swing herself around and shifted herself to the pole, spinning as she slid her way down the post in what Raven deemed to be showing off. The acrobat ran over to Raven, taking one of her hands in her own. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

"Don't touch me!" Who the hell did this kid think they were?! Maybe if she glared at them hard enough, they'd get the hint… and that is just what Raven did, but she was met with something surprising.

The way they glinted in the moonlight… This little human's eyes… They glowed with an ethereal silver that reflected her own equally bright red orbs, and in that moment, she was faced with the knowledge that these eyes would haunt her every waking moment. The girl smiled at her in a way that no human ever had… but weren't they supposed to hate her kind?… Was she able to tell? As if to answer her thoughts, the wind rustled the feathers of her crown… Of course, she knew.

"It isn't safe to be out here." Any of the girl's distinctive features remained hidden beneath her hood as she reached out to her. When Raven flinched, the girl hesitated and waited for even the slightest form of acknowledgement, and it came from a barely noticeable softening of Raven's eyes. "Woooooow, they're so pretty!" The girl lightly touched the tip of one of the rich, black feathers hidden throughout her equally dark tresses. Opposed to the color scheme of her previous plumage, it was a shock to see that this girl picked it out so easily. Normally, she would have slapped the girl's hand away, but those eyes lured her into sense mutual trust… So she relaxed and let her touch them further.

"Summer!" A voice called out a name and Raven's eyes widened as the girl looked behind her in response. Not more humans! Surely they would try to harm her. At her current age and skill, she wasn't prepared to face possible hunters. "Summer, where are you?" So that was this girl's name. Raven took one last look at the girl in white and burned the image into her mind before she quietly fled.

"Over here," Summer called out. Flashlight beams danced around as their owners ran towards her voice.

"What were you doing, child?" A man ran up to her with a young blonde boy.

"I made a new friend! See!" She turned to show them the girl, but she had vanished.

"Child, don't run off!" The older man scolded her. "You nearly scared us to death! Just think of the consequences if you should die! Perish the thought!"

"But I'm serious! There was a girl that fell off that building!" Summer threw her hands down in emphasis. "And I saved her."

"Riiiiiight," the little boy crossed his arm behind her. "We can play Heroes and Hunters later."

"I'm not lying, Tai!" Summer crossed her arms and pouted, looking at the buildings they passed as she followed them. They came upon an alleyway lined with trashcans and a curious sight for her. Small birds picked at the trash – many that she had seen throughout the city - but what caught her eye was a large black bird with red eyes that followed her curiously. It tapped its toes on the aluminum trash can with an almost human-like gesture.

 _Uuuroooooork!_ It called out to her before it flapped its wings and took off for the sky. Summer giggled to herself, never taking her eyes off the bird as it circled around high above them. It must have been so wonderful to be free to roam the skies like that. The bird continued to follow them all the way back to their home, perching itself on a nearby post. Summer ran up to it excitedly, but the bird on cocked its head curiously at her.

"Summer, get away from that buzzard!" A buzzard?! She wasn't a buzzard! "Damn scavengers just sit there waiting for scraps. Shoo shoo!" Heart beating against her chest, she flapped her wings violently as the man tried to grab her.

"Stop! Get out of here, birdie!" Summer dove into the man's waist, jerking him away from the bird and giving it time to flee.

 _Smack!_

The bird looked back in enough time to see the man strike this strange human girl and landed in a nearby tree. He yelled at her until the blonde boy came to her rescue, taking the next blow he delivered. Irritated, the man stormed away and it looked like Summer was crying into the boy's arms… Maybe there were some good humans out there, but surely; age and more punishment would teach that strange girl that Raven was the sort of monster that needed hunting… After all, that's exactly where Raven was firmly perched in the food chain.

 **ooOOoo**

 **AN: I think I'll have a lot of fun with writing Raven as I go. Anyway, the next chapter fast forwards to a few years after this!**


	2. Ch 1: Troublesome Little Birdie

**AN: Alright! Gonna' start you guys off with our wonderful bird twins! They are quite the lovely duo and contrast each other very nicely. Most people tend to choose to portray Summer as a much sweeter version of Ruby, but the Lightforge AU is rather dark. That's not to say that she doesn't still have her sweet moments. There are plenty of those – she just has a bit more of a dominant, badass personality. She's meant to be a personality that gives Raven a run for her money. Tai is… well, Tai is pretty much a gooby big brother perv type.**

 **ooOOoo**

"So, tell me again why it is that we have to infiltrate Beacon, of all places." Sometimes, her brother asked too many questions. She watched him in distaste as he plucked a feather from his hair, gagging as he cast it aside… How could he be so heartless toward his plumage? "Y'know, if you walk around like that, we'll stick out."

"What do you mean?"

"We're not exactly a common type of Faunus, Raven," he rolled his eyes at her. "You might want to hide them."

"Why on Earth would I do that?!" She spat as she smacked him hard. "My feathers are something that I **am** actually proud of!" It seriously blew her mind that he could take what made them special for granted in such a way. She muttered a few curses to herself, now that he had fouled her mood. "As you know, the Branwen tribe is fiercely loyal to the White Fang. Lord Ghira and the Lady Kali have fought so hard for Faunus acceptance, but peaceful demonstrations will not get us very far. We have the means to protect Faunus communities, but further action requires our particular skill set - infiltration. We've fought so hard to be recognized, and in just the last 50 years, we've been able to walk out in society, rather than being hidden away by the Schnee. Sadly, there are those weaklings that still serve them so ignorantly."

"Yeah, so why are we going to Beacon?" Qrow scratched his head. "It's a feeder school that's gonna' put us in with the Schnee. That makes us _those weaklings_ you're talking about."

"No," Raven said in irritation. "We're gathering information. Ghira has received reports that the Schnee have begun research on a new weapon that could have drastic consequences, even for Faunus. It's our job to learn whatever we can."

"Ah." There was a disappointed quality to his voice. "I see." Most of the White Fang didn't understand the favoritism that the Branwen family had gained, but the reality was that they were among the most loyal and excelled at spying. Their unique ability to shape shift at will granted them discretion unlike many others, but there was a catch. Removing their feathers meant that the ability was lost to them until they grew back in. It was essentially clipping their wings… Just like Qrow had done to himself so he could "fit in". This made him completely useless for this task.

Often, her twin was assigned to anything she was, despite his lack of devotion to the White Fang cause. Many times this had been the cause for an uproar, when far more loyal persons should have been assigned, but Ghira's reasoning was that what Qrow lacked toward the Fang, he easily made up for in his loyalty to his sister, and the White Fang's leader was a family man at heart. Unfortunately, he was right though. As annoying as Qrow was, there was no one else she would rather have her back. They were twins. No matter their difference of opinion, they would always just be in sync.

They approached the gate to the Beacon schoolyard and stood in awe of the building. This was to be their home for the next few years and they would be in enemy territory. They would have to become one of them, which Qrow was more than fine with. If Raven had to be honest, this was probably the first time he had been excited about a mission and he seemed star struck. On the other hand, Raven could already feel the stares of fellow students and some of their whispers. That's right. There weren't very many Faunus in the school yet, but the headmaster saw great promise in them… If only he knew how wrong he was.

"Raven! Look at this!" He had run ahead of her and was standing in awe of a fountain in the center of the yard. "I know it's not your thing, but just try to enjoy something with me."

Raven's eyes scanned across the crowd as she half-listened to him ramble on about whatever human thing he was so passionate about, but something else had caught her eye. For the briefest moment, she thought that she had caught a familiar glimpse of silver. Scanning the crowd, she found nothing that even closely resembled those eyes that haunted her dreams.

From the moment they had passed the gate, she felt eyes on her, but of course there were. She was a Faunus that proudly displayed her features. She was bound to catch people's attention, but not like this. The gaze she felt was observant and strangely sympathetic. She pressed her fingers to her sinuses and sighed. What a time to be thinking about this sort of thing… Even if she happened to be here, it had been five years. That girl wouldn't remember her, let alone known that she had followed her home…

Now that she thought about it, curiosity had gotten the better of her a year ago. She stopped by the small home she remembered the girl lived at, but an entirely new family lived there; most notably, a rather solid young man with a square jaw and a taste for firearms. James, she thought they called him? The little shit had taken to using birds as target practice and chose the wrong one that day. Either way, she had wanted to see how accurate her assumptions about the girl's future were, but her whereabouts were lost to her.

"Human architecture is so amazing!" Qrow was continuing whatever recitation about human-developed things and she really didn't care for it.

"Qrow," Raven quirked a brow and set her hands on her hips. "You do know that we're just as capable of this as them, right?"

"Raven," Qrow matched her mannerisms. "You do know that Faunus are just humans with benefits, right?"

"Are you mocking me?!"

"Yes."

"You don't even have the decency to try to hide it!" Her brother shrugged and gave her the ugliest smile he could think of at that time.

"Wouldn't be your twin if I did."

"Shove it up your-"

"Well, well, well." A cocky presence approached them, spelling trouble for the twins through the snide tone of his voice. "What do we have here? A filthy Faunus and a… human lover?!"

"Hey, I'm- blerrrrgh."

"What's it to you?" The feathered twin glared as she sized him up. Yeah, he was douche material – a real grade A chump. "He's free to choose what company he likes."

"Yeah, it's just the **wrong** kind." A few other boys started to surround them and he made an off-handed comment to his fellowship. "See that guys, you give 'em an inch and they take a mile. Already thinks she can walk all over him. Anyone else share my opinion when I say our friend here deserves justice?" They all cheered and a larger crowd began to grow around them. It was sickening just how cruel humans could be. All this was doing was proving her right and what little remained of the hope she held for that girl waned with each passing moment. Humans had no place in the Faunus world the White Fang would create.

Displeased by her lack of reaction toward his jeering, the douche grabbed Raven by the wrist and pulled her forward, turning her around. She was in need of some punishment. You know, to show her her place. From behind, he could see the distinguishing feathers of her tribe and sneered at them, pulling hard until a few came out and her world went white with pain. "What's this shit?"

"Stop!" Qrow lunged at him, but the guy just pushed him into his buddies who forced him to the ground to watch as he tormented his sister. Qrow struggled harder, but was pulled harder and a knee was planted into his back. Anything but her feathers! He watched as this monster crumpled them in his hand and tossed them away… They may have been trash to him, but to her, they were her treasure...

"Qrow!" He jolted at her commanding tone. "Don't." A look in her eye said that even through the pain, she would be fine and could take whatever he would dish out… but Qrow was so tired of this. She was the brave one and he was the coward. Even now, she was maintaining the belief that he was human so that only one of them would get this treatment. Maybe it was his innocent beliefs that were the last strand of hope she may ever hold toward humanity, but even that was wearing thin these days.

"That's right," he threw her to the ground and stepped on her chest. "This is where you belong." With a loud cough, she wind was knocked from her chest and the pressure from his foot wouldn't allow her chest to expand to bring in any air. How could all these people just stand there and watch this happen?! Her eyes caught Qrow's and she felt horrible that he had to watch this. If they had been anywhere else, she knew she would have retaliated in a heartbeat, but that wasn't a luxury they could afford.

The lack of air was finally starting to catch up with her and she could feel her body preparing to shut down from the oxygen deprivation. Darkness had already begun to crackle around her vision, leaving a small area of view. The foot lifted from her and came down back hard, but in that moment, the world was washed in familiar achromatic tones. White petals fluttered in front of her, sort of like a precursor to the main event.

A hooded figure appeared in front of her, unclasping the cape and let it to the air, where it stayed motionlessly. The figure, she now recognized as a female shape, turned to look at her and leaned down with a warm smile, though her eyes were hidden by her bangs. Raven wanted to get away, but as it was, she was part of this frozen world. The girl touched her and life seemed to breathe into her body, though when she looked around, she felt a pang of guilt at the horror etched across her brother's face.

"Such a troublesome little birdie you turned out to be," the girl spoke in an amused voice as she picked Raven up. With a step, the world around them glitched and they were suddenly in the branches of the thickest tree in the courtyard. The color returned to the world and a blonde boy barreled through the crowd, liberating Qrow of the ones holding him down. Lifting one high above his head, he threw him across the crowd into the fight's instigator.

"A shit, it's Tai and Summer. Let's get outta' here!" The bully recognized the snow white cape as it fluttered to the ground in front of him. "Freaks of a feather flock together! It fucking figures you're Faunus lovers, too!" Raven wasn't too sure what happened after that because the world went cold and she passed out in that girl's arms. The last thing she remembered were soft words whispered to her.

"Don't worry. You're safe with me, no matter who you are."

… and those silver eyes…

 **ooOOoo**

"I see." A door creaked open and a male voice broke the silence. "I've taken the liberty of placing Mr. Winchester on a supervised suspension. He will be required to complete a Faunus Sensitivity Training Course before we will **consider** his return. I am very sorry to hear that this happened to your sister, Mr. Branwen."

"S-sure…" Qrow sounded so sad. It was rare to say that something broke her heart, but being twins, the feelings were amplified. "Is she gonna' be okay?"

"Yes," the man's soothing voice chuckled. "She should be waking up any moment. You two are very lucky that Summer and Tai showed up when they did." First names? That was odd, considering the teachers of Beacon were known to treat students militaristically.

"Pssssh, it was nothing!" Oh no… Raven's eyes opened wide at the voice and she suddenly shot up, staring at a girl with short black hair, dyed red at the ends, and a pure white hooded cloak. What the hell was she doing here?! "Oh, hai!" The girl faced Raven perfectly as if she could see the Faunus through her tightly shut eyes. Summer, as she assumed her name was, wiggled her fingers in a wave, wearing what had to have been the mostly inhumanly possible smile she had ever seen… but there was something fake about it. She just couldn't tell what part. If she was the same girl, something had drastically changed about it… Shit, what did she mean _if_ … That power she used was exactly the same. What were the chances two people wore the same outfit **and** had the same power?

"Raven!" Qrow jumped onto her and she hissed in pain as he hugged her around her waist. "I was so worried when you didn't wake up! You normally bounce back so fast! Why didn't you let me help you?" Raven frowned and flicked him in the head.

"They would have hurt you too, idiot." Aaaand, there was that hurt look in his eyes. She knew he hated it every time she protected him. He was a little old school and thought that he should have been doing the protecting when it came to her, but at least he held enough regard for her that he listened when she gave orders – even if they came in the form of a simple glance… Speaking of eyes, Raven rubbed the back of Qrow's head and looked at the girl who had come to their rescue. "I suppose I should thank you."

"No problemo!" Ugh, even her answers were drenched with that fake happiness. "Anything for a friend!"

"No offense," Raven glared at her. "But we're not friends."

"Oh, how sad." Even pouting, that smile didn't leave her face, but she did slowly open her eyes. With the revelation of the silver orbs, Raven felt her breath catch. It was too coincidental. This had to be her. In all the years Raven had roamed, she had never once run into another person with silver eyes, let alone ones that commanded the same presence and also belonged to a savior-type cloaked in white… Hadn't a blonde boy also been calling that name? Summer's smile changed to a grin as she made a decision for herself. "But we will be."

"What?"

"Oh, hey!" The door slid open and shut once more, this time introducing the boy known as Tai. "You're awake, beautiful! I was getting tired of staring at your boyfriend! I, myself, prefer the…" He giggled lecherously and made motions to emulated a woman's curves. "…softer features… of a woman! My name's Taiyang!" The scraggly blonde held out a hand and Raven stared at in detest. Before she could do anything, Summer slapped his hand away.

"I don't think she wants to be touched by a pervert," Summer puffed her cheeks out like a chipmunk and tackled him, playfully climbing up his torso and hand standing on his shoulder. With expert control over her core strength, she came eye-to-eye with him and went over his head to his back, wrapping her legs around his waist to anchor herself. "You're super gross!"

"Ah, stop being such a runt!" He complained with a muffled voice due to the white cape draped over his face. He tried his hardest to reach behind himself to grab her, but she was latched on too tightly. "Oh, c'mon Summer! This isn't fair! You always do this!"

"Well, you always fall for this! I will Saibaman the crap out of you!" They could virtually hear her sticking her tongue out as she spoke in an exaggerated voice. "Be smarter and I'll change tactics!"

"Settle down now, children." The energetic duo actually heeded the teacher's orders and Summer shifted to sitting on Tai's broad shoulders, leaning onto his head. Despite their informal posture, they looked at him as if they were awaiting order. The man turned to face the twins and smiled genuinely. "I am Headmaster Oscar Pine. On behalf of the school, I would like to apologize for your treatment. Unfortunately, the two of you did miss the Introductory Ceremony, but I am sure that your assigned partners will be more than willing to accommodate to your needs, as they know this school like the back of their hands."

"Aw, you flatter us," Tai said fondly.

"Nonsense," the headmaster shook his head. "You've both virtually lived here your entire lives…"He ran a finger across the counter, frowning at a line he made in a thin coating of dust. "And I give credit where it is due, and the two of you are among our brightest pupils."

"If you ask the Schnee, we're **the** brightest…" There it was – what Raven was looking for – a small slip up in that happy persona. Everyone had a piece of themselves they wanted to hide, and that included Raven. Qrow's was his Faunus nature, but what was it for these two – more specifically Summer?

"What was that Miss Rose?" The headmaster asked with deceitful smile. "I couldn't hear you you."

"Hmmm?" Summer blinked cluelessly, as if she hadn't the faintest idea a sound passed her lips. It was just a glimpse, but for a moment, that obliviously cheerful façade briefly faltered.

"If you wouldn't mind showing them to your assigned dorm, once Miss Branwen has been cleared to leave," the headmaster suggested. "I would greatly appreciate it." He looked at the twins. "Your teammates have already moved your things to your room."

"We figured we'd wait to choose beds and stuff 'til you guys were ready," Tai said, grounding Summer as she lost her balance. "We figured it'd only be fair to wait." No way were they as good of people as they were playing right now. They had to be up to something.

"Now that you are aware of your team members, I do feel that it is also necessary to inform you of a couple other things in regard to this," the headmaster smiled. "From this day forward, you will be known at Team STRQ. Details regarding you team and individual members will be posted under this name. While I have assigned you based on your individual talents and personalities, you have been assigned one partner in particular." The headmaster cleared his throat before continuing.

"For your team, you have been divided into balanced partnerships." Why did Raven have a bad feeling about this? Her eyes met with Summer's and that smile faltered into something else… It was the same expression, but what was it that changed?... "The first partnership is Miss Summer Rose and Miss Raven Branwen," Raven's heart sank. Not only did she have to share a room with her, but now she had to spend every waking moment of her day with her. "And the second half will be Mr. Taiyang Xiao Long and Mr. Qrow Branwen. I have also designated Miss Rose as this team's leader. It is my hope that you will all prove yourselves worthy to protect those in need when the time comes. I now will bid you all a good day! If you are ever in need of anything, feel free to see me. My office will always be open to Team STRQ." Just Team STRQ? Or was he just saying that as a formality? The headmaster left as swiftly as he arrived, leaving Raven to wonder if the man had lost his mind with his choices. These two were beyond silly.

"Aw, man!" Tai snapped his fingers and looked up at her. "How do you get it every time?"

"Cuz I'm not a total pleb." Oh joy, she got a cocky partner… Not that she couldn't be cocky herself. There was just only room for one cocky member on their team and it was her job.

"Hey!" Summer hoped down from his shoulder, sliding her hand across his back as she walked past him and he smiled at the touch. Raven tilted her head at the subtle affection, though the eyes didn't match the suggestion. As Summer came closer, their eyes met once more and that smiled flipped its switch again.

"By the way, Tai," Summer closed her eyes and wait for him to hum in response. She opened them and the expression become hollow and irritated. She pointed at the two siblings and spoke. "They're siblings. If you couldn't tell by looking them, they share a last name."

"Oh, isn't it like, incest to date your brother?" Tai laughed. "So weir-pleeergh!" Summer smacked him across the room.

"This!" Oh, another interesting shift in dynamic? " **This** is why you don't get picked!"

"Ow! That actually hurt this time!" Tai shrieked. "You never hit me that hard! I was kidding! I can see their Forge too! You know this!" Wait, they could see Forge?! Who were these two?... They must have been found out and the headmaster split them up and assigned them to the worst partners they possibly have. "Seriously though, sharing a last name doesn't mean siblings," Tai shrugged. "They coulda' been married or something."

"God, you are annoying, Tai," Summer wiped her hand across her face. "I'm pretty sure they aren't married this young."

"Well, we-" Summer kicked him this time in a genuine rage. It looked like that was a sensitive subject. We're they married or maybe arranged for the future? Whatever the problem, Summer was treating the idea with great disdain.

"Do not," Summer growled, holding herself protectively. "Ever bring that up in front of **anyone**." Yep, she was definitely sore subject and she extremely insecure about it.

"Look, Sum," he got up slowly and whispered to her. Unfortunately, it seemed he didn't realize that Faunus had sensitive hearing. "I'm sorry, but you can't keep blaming me for something the Schnee are doing… Besides, you're always gonna' be my lil' sis, y'know?" He ruffled her hair and she relaxed. So they were siblings that have different last names and they were somehow connected to the Schnee? That was unusual… Unusual, but possibly useful for the future…

"I guess."

"Hey, sis," Qrow leaned into whispering range. "I think you met your match in the bad mood department… and here I was thinking she was all sweet and everything. That sure changed once that Oscar guy left." Summer turned to face Raven and the emptiness in her eyes changed again.

Ah, she knew what it was now. It was the eyes, not the smile. This entire time those silver eyes had been so hollow, but every time they locked onto Raven, they became as genuine as her altercation with blonde bafoon. What was the figure of speech? Ah, she knew what it was. This must have been what they meant when someone smiles through their eyes.

 **ooOOoo**

"Soooo, which beds do you guys want?" Tai asked with a friendly gesture. He honestly really didn't care where he slept, as long as it was a bed. The twins looked between themselves, unsure of what to do. Either way, they were in a bed in the same room.

"Well," Qrow tapped his foot as he thought. "Where does Rose want to sleep?"

"Me?" Summer pointed at herself cluelessly and then developed a mischievous smirk. "The bed in the corner." Raven smirked with a small amount of amusement as Qrow looked to see which one she meant and floored at the layout of the room. All of the beds were placed in corners to maximize the amount of room it had to offer.

"Oh, ha ha," Qrow grumbled to himself. "Everyone has a sense of humor here."

"Everyone but you," Raven kept her smirk as she walked passed Qrow, tossing her duffel bag onto the bed furthest from the door, to the left. It provided a clear vantage point of the door, which meant she would always be the first to see every occasion regarding the entrance to their room. "I guess this one's mine."

"Oh, good," Summer hopped onto the bed across from the foot of Raven's, spun herself on one foot, and collapsed backward onto her bed. "Dibs!"

"I guess this one is mine," Qrow chose the bed diagonally across from Raven's. If she had chosen the door vantage point, then he would cover the window. Either way, if an intruder entered through either, they would only see one, while the other would take a moment to locate. By that time, the other would have easily dispatched them already.

With only one bed remaining, Tai casually walked over and gently laid his bag down, but there was something a little strange. All of them had a bag… except for Summer. The twins looked at each other, wondering which was going to ask about this. Maybe Summer was just really poor, though she did have a really expensive looking smart phone. Then again, some people chose to live outside their means, while those like the twins chose more budget-friendly devices.

"Uh, Rose," Qrow decided to be the one and Raven gave him a relieved look. "Where's your stuff?" A small congratulatory sound came from the crimson-coalette's phone and she pumped a fist to herself, proud of whatever useless achievement she just unlocked. Without looking over at Qrow, Summer shifted herself and reached under the bed, releasing a drawer compartment beneath the bed. It extended out, revealing a very well organized locker. Everything from books, to a few changes of clothes, sorted toiletries, and other supplies were neatly tucked in a borderline OCD fashion to maximize the space to the fullest. Wait… she had already picked her bed ahead of time…

"By the way," Summer said, still not looking away from her phones. "You guys can call me by my first name. I don't mind."

"Same here," Tai smiled as he began to roll his socks into a tight bun-like shape. His drawer was beginning to mirror their team leader's, but the process looked so damn tedious.

"Ah!" Summer sat up with wide eyes and spun herself from the bed to a sitting position in front of her drawer. Moving a few things around, she picked up two strange looking items and pushed her drawer back in. "Tai. Here!" She tossed one to him and he caught it, knowing what it was. She pressed something on the strange item and it responded with a computerized voice.

"Syncing, please pair with a mobile device!" A few clicks came across her phone and it spoke once more.  
"Pairing complete. Device is armed. Please place device in place of intended use!" Setting it at the bottom of her drawer, Summer closed it and hopped back on her bed cheerfully… Earlier, Raven had thought so, but now he shared the belief that there was something suspicious about the strange teens they had been assigned to…

"What's that?" Qrow asked, feigning innocent curiosity. "Do we get them too?"

"Hmmm? Oh, sorry Qrow," Summer winked an eye and put her right hand straight up in front of her nose in an apologetic manner. "Tai and I brought these from home. They're short-range disruption devices. The compartments under the bed use electricity to open and these essentially turn them into lockers. In other words, they'll only open if they're deactivated." A loud noise came from Raven's direction as she smacked her hand down on her bag.

"Are you serious?!" Oh no… He knew what she was feeling, but the day's events were taking their toll on her in a much worse way. "You think we're gonna' steal from you?! Being Faunus doesn't make us thieves!"

"I didn't say tha-"

"I didn't ask for you to take pity on me or to even be on a team together," Raven marched out the door with some clothes in her arms. "I'm already sick of this place"

"Wait," Qrow chased after her. "Where are you going?!"

"To take a shower," Raven shouted back. "And be by myself!" Qrow attempted to follow her, but Tai held him back with a light grasp. The darker clad boy ripped his arm away from the muscular blonde and glared at him, noticing Summer walk up behind him.

"Dude, it's bad enough you guys just pissed her off, now you're trying to start with me to?" Tai shook his head No.

"Tai's just trying to tell you that you can't go to the Women's showers," Summer said calmly, irritating Qrow even more. How could she just have a cool head about this?! "I know you're worried about her. I'll give her a few minutes to calm down and check on her myself."

"That doesn't exactly make me feel any better. You caused this."

"It's a misunderstanding," Summer waved her hand. "I'm not accusing you guys of anything. You two are probably more trustworthy than just about anyone else here **because** you're Faunus." Summer checked her phone. "I don't wanna' leave her alone too long. Tai, you talk to him. Qrow's not the one we need to worry about."

"Uh, wait, why isn't he a concern?"

"I'll explain later or you can ask him," Summer walked away. "If he wants to tell you about it. I need to make sure she's safe."

This might have just been Qrow, but even among all the Faunus, the Branwens were rare. These days there weren't many birds of prey left… Did Summer have knowledge on their particular species?

 **ooOOoo**

 **AN: Ooooooo, I wonder what's gonna' happen with the girls! (Actually, I don't. I already know lullz.) I do want to explain a bit about Summer's power real quick. This IS NOT something that Ruby will get. It's not inherited. Rose's have to be taught to do things like what Summer can by another Rose. Unfortunately, is Ruby's era, Summer is no longer around to do so. :( So this is something unique to Summer. Also, no. Tai and Summer are not actually siblings. They grew up together. For the Branwen twin, I thought a cool feature for them would be the transformation.**

 **In Lightforge, only Weres can change, but they have to learn to be at peace with their beasts. Faunus are already born in coexistence, which comes out in the form of animal-like characteristics. Making the Branwens unique in being the only tribe that can change, despite being a Faunus seemed interesting. Unlike Weres, they become the actual bird of prey they are named after, where Weres become a humanoid. Anyway, I may need to put a SENSITIVE SUBJECT MATTER label for the next chapter. It's technically a self-harm thing, but not in the way that you would normally expect. I'll label it and you guys can let me know if you think it's an appropriate label. Thanks guys!**


	3. Ch 2: Tradition

**AN: Holidays are just around the corner! Hope everyone is doing well! Last week was Lightforge week, so this is Requiem's turn! Fingers crossed I can stick to this! Lightforge has a really big thing coming up next! Anyway, WARNING: POSSIBLY SENSITIVE MATERIAL:**

 **I mentioned in the last chapter I might put a warning up for this chapter. I do think this might be a bit sensitive for people who self harm or have a past with it. It's an actual bird trait. It's definitely not as intense as I've seen other stories get, but it's here as a warning just in case.**

 **ooOOoo**

What right did she have to play the part of savior and turn around and accuse them of dishonesty?! Spilling bottles all over the counter, Raven slammed her things down. Luckily, there had been no one in the showers at this time of night. She frowned as she tried to straighten everything out, but her frustration grew and she kept knocking them over. Finally, she was over it and smacked a bottle of lime and cedar shampoo into the wall the counter sat on. Why was this girl getting under her skin so much? Ultimately, her assigned partner was just like all the other humans and the only team mate Raven could trust was her brother…

Qrow… he would have been hurt because of her stubbornness back there. Subconsciously, her hand traced along the crest of feathers that adorned the back of her head. Coming across the rigid feathers mangled by the asshole from earlier, her eyes lifted to the mirror and she took in the empty expression that stared back at her. There had been more feathers earlier, but now they were missing, exposing hair that was matted in dried blood. Forcefully grasping a damaged feather, she shoved part of a towel into her mouth. Biting as she pulled, she yanked the feather out and screamed into it. She looked at the feather and placed it on the counter, letting a small amount blood pool around the shaft of the feather. With a heavy sigh, she readied herself one more. This always hurt like hell, but she'd never had to do this in this magnitude.

As she selected the next feather, she winced in anticipation of the coming pain. It hurt so much and the expectation always made it worse, but it wasn't just on a physical level. These were her pride and joy, but they would bring harm to her brother. He shouldn't have to pay for her shortcomings. A small part of her was upset with him though. Their feathers came with benefits – they were extension of themselves, but he had chosen the coward's way out and forsaken them. Losing them meant denouncing the very thing that made the Branwen tribe so special. With another hard yank, she dislodged the next and screamed into the towel, setting the obsidian feather on top of its predecessor and set about selecting the next beloved piece of herself.

"Hey," Raven paled, letting the towel fall from her mouth. Anyone but her. This was the last person she wanted to catch her doing something like this. "Whacha doin'?" Just beyond her reflection, Summer stood pressed against the door. Her voice had been friendly enough, but it didn't match the worried expression on her face. Taking a deep breath, Raven decided to face her head on and turned around, putting weight on her hands as she leaned into the counter, but Summer wasn't focused on her. Tracing her line of sight, Raven ended up at feathers sitting on the counter in a small pool of her own blood.

"N-nothing," Raven sat the towel over top her beloved feathers. "Why are you he-" She was silenced as Summer walked over and sat on the unused side of the counter.

"Do you like them?" Raven knew she meant the feathers.

"Why wouldn't I?" The darker teen hissed in response. What kind of question was that? Of course, she did! She was Faunus.

"Then why?" With those curious silver eyes, the question was innocent enough, but Raven wasn't one to be fooled.

"Are you really asking something like that, after today?" What the hell was her problem?!

"I just want to hear it from you," Summer lead on with a more serious tone. "Rather than making assumptions about you. Those are your flight feathers, right?" She knew about those?... Of course, she did…

"Look, I share traits with an animal, but I'm not one. They grow back," Raven muttered and gave a half-hearted laugh. "They always do. It's just like hair, except it takes forever and it's painful, but it's more painful to feel my twin's pain."

"Then I'm sure that Qrow can also feel your pain," Summer offered a smile, that irritated her again. "I didn't mean for you to think I was accusing you of potentially raiding my things in the future." Summer looked warmly into her eyes with a genuine smile. "You might have noticed that Tai and I aren't well liked here. You two are Faunus, so you'll get whatever treatment they'd normally give, but now you'll be recognized as _Tai and Summer's partners_. They'll harass you just like us." Harass them?

"What does that have to do with us?"

"I know you heard what they said about us earlier."

 _Freaks of a feather flock together! It fucking figures you're Faunus lovers, too!_

"Wasn't that a stab at us being Faunus?" Raven wasn't sure if she liked where this was going. "Faunus are considered Freaks, just like Weres, Vampires, and any other being of Darkforge."

"Hmmm, I supposed so." With those words, Summer became distant. "Tai and I are considered to be Human-class Freaks – beings that have no affinity for Forges, yet possess something equally as powerful."

"Equally as…" That didn't make sense. "What could possibly be equal to Forges?" Raven recalled the world going grey and freezing around her. "Magic?... I thought that was a long forgotten art."

"Oh, it is," Summer let out a small giggle. "Most people don't maintain awareness when I do that."

"I'm not most people," Raven stated vigilantly.

"I know." Those silver eyes felt like they were searching through Raven's soul, absorbing every part of her. "It's something like that, anyway." They flitted to the mirror and focused on something just past Raven. Following her eyes again, she found was nothing there.

"What are you looking at?" This elicited a small laugh from her partner, who started to slowly reach out toward the side of Raven's head. Instinctually, Raven grabbed it firmly, causing the girl in white to jump.

"So pretty," Summer relaxed her arm, letting Raven know that she was ultimately in control, but she never let that smile falter. Raven's eyes grew wider as she recalled the girl from a few years back and she found herself guiding Summer's hand to the feather she believed she was referencing. Her partner touched her fingertips to the underside and ran her thumb tenderly along the rachis, down to the soft downy closer to her scalp. She felt so vulnerable staring into this girl's eyes and letting her so close. A blush growing across her cheeks, Raven's eyes eased up as she loosened her grip on Summer's wrist and traced her hand, interlocking their fingers.

"Are you her?" Summer smiled in reply and Raven's blush grew brighter as she realized she had spoken out loud.

"I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's been thinking that," Summer laughed out loud.

"Were you the one I felt watching me when I got here?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." God, her eyes were just as stunning as Raven remembered. "I wanted to be sure and there wasn't a good time to bring it up." Unsure of where to go from this discovery, an uncomfortable silence ensued until Summer ran her thumb along the feather once more… Why did this action feel so much more intimate with the knowledge she had now?

"You're hurting yourself," Summer's voice sounded so soft and sad. "I don't want you to, but if you're really adamant about removing them, let me help. I don't want you to get an infection."

"My family has always done it this way," Raven let Summer's hand go and they both brought them back to their sides. "It's tradition." Summer crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks out.

"And I bet everything was swollen and got infected too!" There was no response from Raven. "That's what I thought! C'mere!" This wasn't going to end well for the corven Faunus and she could already feel it. "Strip down!"

 **ooOOoo**

"Aaaaaaah," Qrow kicked the post of his bed. What was taking so long? They weren't back yet and he was started to get worried. He sat down on the bed mulling over all the bad things that could be happening and his leg started shaking with his impatience. That's it! He was done with waiting. Qrow jumped up and started to head to the door.

"Dude, things are fine."

"You don't know that!" Qrow snapped at Tai. "It's not like your sister is over there." Looking up from his book, Tai frowned at the suggestion that he couldn't relate. "I'm gonna' go find her." As he turned to the door, it opened and Summer barged through with a heap of towels in her arms.

"Oh, hai!" She said in a chipper voice as she barreled happily through the door, followed by a sweet and woody aroma. Following closely behind her was who he recognized the scent to belong to, though his sister was incredibly dressed down, sporting a grey v-neck and black sweat pants. A towel was draped across her neck and she shifted awkwardly, but it was her hair that caught him off-guard.

"What did you do to my sister?" He growled accusingly and Tai loudly flipped a page in his book, continuing to ignore the situation. Seriously? Did he not have a single care in the world?

"Relax Qrow," Raven looked up in embarrassment. "She didn't make me do anything." Raven walked past him and started to remove the towel from her shoulders, but Summer all but teleported over to her with an eager look.

"Nuh uh, **you** sit down!" The two stared each other down until Raven gave in and rolled her eyes.

"Alright." There was a sense of playfulness he'd never heard in his sister's voice and he realized this version of Summer also seemed a lot more relaxed than the earlier one. What was this aura of fondness between them? "You know I can dry my own hair, right?"

"Nuh uh, you're probably the type that just rubs it all around into a giant rat's nest and then rakes a comb through it in the morning." With a single laugh of disbelief, Qrow could barely believe how accurately this stranger hit that nail on the head without knowing her. Who the hell was she to worm her way past most of from Raven's walls so quickly? "Now turn around."

"Alright," Raven sighed, sitting on the bed with her legs crossed and faced Summer's bed. Summer sat a few towels behind Raven and leaned onto the bed with one leg for balance, leaving the other on the ground. She started from the ends of Raven's long charcoal locks, squeezing gently to soak up any residual water. As she worked her way up, Qrow couldn't help but notice the look of contentment on Raven's face. It was strange, she actually seemed like she was being lulled to sleep. As Summer reached the crown of her head, Raven winced and her shoulders locked up.

"Sorry," Summer stopped to let some of Raven's hair fall loose and reduce the amount of tension. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," Raven's voice was soft and sleepy. "It's just tender." After a moment, Summer returned to her administrations of her partner's hair.

"I don't think you're an animal," Summer stated out of nowhere and Raven opened her eyes in thought. Clearly, this meant something that he had missed while they were gone. "But most Faunus share qualities with the species they are aligned with."

"Aligned with?" Raven tried really hard to focus on what Summer was saying, but all this pampering was incredibly relaxing. She was used to being called an animal, but Summer way of thinking liked Faunus to a co-existing within oneself, rather than something that was almost human until genetics gave them the short end of the stick. It was strangely accepting. In a brief flash of pain, Raven winced as Summer reached an especially sore spot, but Summer became gentler. This was the area where her feathers had been ripped from her earlier.

"Mmmhmmm," Summer leaned over Raven's shoulder and showed her a light red-stained white towel and Raven's eyes grew worried. "This was why I wanted to help you. This is what you share with birds. You strike me as someone who feels safe when you're in control of the situation. Some birds defeather themselves when stressed and accidentally harm themselves as a result. I don't think that it's just _tradition_ , like you said."

"It," Raven looked away. She couldn't handle Summer looking into her eyes right now. It was like she could see directly into her soul through her eyes. "It wasn't that bad."

"Raven," Summer frowned. "That was a lot of blood earlier. It might not have looked like it to you, but that came from your head. I just wanted to make sure you were safe and didn't have regrets if you were going to do this." Summer looked through her hair one last time to check for continued bleeding. "There's still a little bleeding, but it's not too bad. Just make sure you wash your hair in the morning. Let me know if you need help. I don't mind." Summer got up and picked up another towel, laying it across Raven's pillow. "So your pillow doesn't get stained."

"Thank you…" Raven twiddled her thumbs nervously – another odd behavior Qrow noted. "Why do you know so much about birds?"

"No particular reason."

"That's a lie if I've ever heard one," Tai grinned, sitting up from his book. "Look at you being all responsible!"

"Hey!" Summer glared at him and threw a towel at him that fell off, revealing a sly face.

"Summer's got a big imagination," Tai began excitedly. "A few years ago, Summer claimed she saved a bird girl from falling to her death off a skyscraper. When dad and I found Summer, no one was there," he recalled their childhood memories fondly. "She probably just made up an imaginary friend because she was lost in the city at night. Summer got obsessed with birds after that and read every book she could find about birds, weres, and Faunus. She even made friends with people that I'm pretty sure were White Fang members."

"Are you crazy?!" Qrow shrieked in an alarmed voice. "Those Faunus will kill you, Summer!"

"That's what I said, but noooo!" Tai exaggerated. "Let's not listen to your big bro!" Wait… they were siblings?... Aaaand now Qrow felt bad.

"You're not my brother, ass!" Tai grabbed onto her and leaned back on his bed. "Hey, lemme go!"

"And we used to cuddle like this all the time," he said gleefully. "You were such a cutie back then!" He teased her relentlessly. "Brother Tai, pwease wead me a stowiiiieeee!"

"I called you that because you're a monk," she wiggled her way out of his grasp. "You're so annoying!"

"Only when it comes to you, Sum!" He smiled as things settled down into an awkward silence and Raven looked to the floor, pressing her fingers together.

"I didn't think you'd remember me." Raven's voice implied she was focused in her own thoughts.

"Wait, what?" Tai's smile dropped and Qrow cocked his head curiously. This was his first time hearing about this.

"I **knew** you wouldn't remember, so I didn't want to say anything about it… At least, that's what I thought," Summer replied to Raven's revelation. "I wasn't hurt by that. My face was hidden under my hood, so there was no way you'd recognize me, even if you did remember."

"That's not true!" Raven raised her voice and looked across the room adamantly at Summer. "I remembered your… eyes. That's… how I knew who you were earlier." Raven thought a little harder. "That and I remembered the little blonde boy that called out for a Summer."

"That's no fair," Summer pouted. "You knew my name and I had to wait so long for yours! You never even came to see me!"

"How was I supposed to do that?!" Raven challenged her. "You moved!" Oh shit… A devious smile curled its way onto Summer's lips.

"So you did?" Summer teased, hoping to get another reaction out of her.

"D-Darkforge beings don't be-…" She recited the Branwen teachings but silenced herself before she finished. That's right… She shouldn't be acting so freely.

"Don't what, Raven?" Ah, she hated this innocent look. It was hard to refuse it. She did the same thing in the bathroom. This human was going to be the death of her. Raven sighed in defeat and finished her statement.

"Belong with humans…"

"There's no reason you should ever think that. Humans are idiots," Summer crossed her arms and nodded as she spoke. "I should know. I have to deal with this guy!" She jabbed Tai playfully who shouted in mock-protest. "There's nothing wrong with us all being friends."

"Wait, seriously?..." Qrow's eyes were flat. "You gave me shit all these years for wanting human friends and you've had one this whole time?!" To emphasize his point, Summer jumped from Tai's bed to Raven's and hugged her.

"And now we're gonna' be besties!" Raven went completely white and felt her soul leaving her body. "Uh, too much?" Playing it off, Raven pushed her away by the face.

"Too much energy," she said blankly. There was no way she could tell her that she found that much contact to be overwhelming. "Go to sleep." With a laugh, Summer fell back onto Raven's bed and rolled off.

"This is your bed though," she stuck her tongue out. "And I'm not tired!"

"Oh, uh, here," Raven took a small red pouch out from her things and handed it to Summer. "You wanted this."

"Oh!" Summer grinned widely as she took it and bounced back over to her bed, pressing something on her phone. "Perfect!" The drawer under her bed opened and she placed it inside.

"Since we're your teammates, should we also get those?" Summer looked back at her sadly.

"Probably." Raven nodded, mostly to herself.

"Do you think you could show us where to buy them?" Summer fidgeted nervously.

"Summer built and programmed ours," Tai explained. "They're ridiculously expensive and the ones available have way too wide of a range."

"Don't you have to be, like, really smart to build those?" Qrow wondered out loud.

"Summer is part of the Weapons Development and Engineering programs," Tai added. "So when our room got raided by our fellow classmates, Summer took advantage of one of her class projects to build them."

"They only have a radius that affects the locking mechanism," Summer explained. "Normally, they wouldn't allow it, but they didn't see what harm it could do if I made the range that small." Summer looked back at Raven. "But if you want, I need to run into town soon anyway, so we can get the parts then and I can build them for you two. I just have to do it in our off-time."

"That works for me," Qrow confirmed. "How about you, sis?" Holy shit, it was weird seeing her without the feathers, though with the longer ones gone, it revealed the much softer mess of down feathers beneath them that gave her hair a choppy appearance.

"Sounds fine." Raven pulled the blanket from her bed up and slid herself underneath, leaning her weight onto her arm. With everything having calmed down, the others had also taken the opportunity to follow suit. Qrow had already lain down to try to sleep, while Summer tapped away on her phone, and Tai waited patiently. Raven turned the lamp on her side off and Tai followed shortly after, letting the room darken, aside from the soft glow of Summer's phone. Though she still tapped away, Raven noticed that Summer had put ear buds in this time around. It was the courteous thing to do, though really she should have been sleeping… Summer…

" _Strip down!"_

Reflecting on the earlier events in the bathroom, Raven blushed furiously as she lay down. She didn't make her strip completely. Just enough to let Summer wash her hair without soaking her clothes completely, but it was still far less clothing than the most naked she'd ever been in front of someone in the past. She inhaled as she recalled the feeling of her partner's fingers running through her hair and the trickle of the water as it cascaded over her ebony mane of hair - even the way the feathers came out with less resistance. There was a small amount of discomfort, but she had been relaxed the entire time… Maybe it was the tenderness Summer treated her with or even something logical, like the watering opening her pores or something…

But no, to Raven it had to be something that struck her more, like the way that Summer kept eye contact with her the entire time. She was far too absorbed in those silver orbs to brace herself for the coming pain and that was probably what helped... In her time of need, everything about Summer had become a welcomed distraction from the problem that was her heritage.

Reliving the event, she felt a heat rise to her face again. Summer was so strange… but why had she become so comfortable with her? Shooting a glance toward the foot of her bed, she caught Summer staring at her from across the room. Betrayed by the glow of her phone, their eyes met and Summer tried to quickly hide behind the small device. When she thought Raven had looked away, she tried to peek past it and Raven smiled lightly with a quiet laugh. Caught, Summer smiled back sheepishly and blushed…. She really was interesting.

 **ooOOoo**

 **AN: Well, hopefully this chapter wasn't too much. You'll notice that Raven is a bit on the OoC side in both the Lightforge stories. I started writing this before Raven's character was truly shown for what she is and took some liberties with her. She does still have prideful and selfish characteristics, but she doesn't have as many walls up. I do think that Raven in the show does have good qualities buried the front she puts up. We have seen some moments where she falters a bit, but it seems that she has fear and mistrust that deters her from being a truly helpful character. Requiem will build Raven into a character who overcomes a lot of her issues, but ultimately sinks back down and is filled with regrets and anger.**

 **Reader Response:**

 **GrnDrgnzrd** **: Glad you thought so! I have more planned. I believe in the next chapter or two we will have a fight scene that illustrates the Rose's power and will pretty much explain what it is. It's gonna' be a while before the exact specifics get touched in Lightforge itself. That's more focused on what's going on with Weiss right now… Jesus I just realized I Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasted this damn series… There are four Houses of Power that play into this story and it follows them – Schnee, Rose, Xiao Long, and Branwen Lightforge mostly follows the Schnee aspect, while Requiem follows the Branwen aspect… Welp, hate my life!**


	4. Ch 3: Behind the Cheshire Smile

**AN: Merry Christmas guys! I dropped a chapter for both LF and LF:R today! Anyway, enjoy! I'm leaving for work in like 10 mins. Super sad times. Also, I haven't had enough time to do the editing, but if I'm off work early enough, I might be able to release the next chapter of Frequency G tonight.**

 **ooOOoo**

"Taaaaai! Why are you so stroooooong!" It was more of a joke that Summer was making than anything as she swung back and forth from his arm. As if to prove her point, Tai flexed his bicep and lifted her higher.

"That looks incredibly obnoxious." That was it! Whatever admiration she had secretly developed for the girl over the last few days, Raven was taking back.

"Ah, I dunno," Qrow said in a sage-like manner and flexed his own arm. "You wanna' give it a shot?"

"Hell no, we're the same height," Raven frowned. "You're not even that tall to begin with."

"But if I was, you would?" He grinned mischievously at her, earning a smack.

"Hey, you two! Took ya' long enough to get up! You almost missed breakfast!" Tai crossed the dining hall to join the twins while Summer swayed back and forth with each step. As he drew closer, Summer demonstrated her astounding athletics, lifting her legs and wrapping them around his arm to hang upside down instead. Holding firmly with her legs, she snagged a piece of toast as they passed the breakfast buffet and started to nibble on it. It really didn't help that Tai was encouraging this behavior by **not** saying anything. "Thought you guys might wind up late!" Arm still flexed, Qrow continued to stare at Summer and didn't answer the tan blonde. "Uh, dude, whatever you do, don't make eye contac-." He was too late. With a twinkle in her eye, Summer let go and latched onto her new target: Qrow's arm. "Aaaand I can no longer save you."

"Ummmm," Qrow stumbled with the added weight, but wound up catching himself. Lifting his arm, he noted how light she actually was in comparison to her appearance. She practically weighed nothing! With triumph in her eyes and a piece of toast hanging from her, she stared at him eagerly and it pulled at his heart. She was actually incredibly adorable and he cried internally over this… until she engulfed the piece of toast in one fell motion that made him turn blue with concern.

"Hands off my brother!" Something irked at Raven's nerves with this display and she snapped. How could Summer be so overly familiar with him? Sure, she hadn't know her very long either, but Raven had at least met her before. It excused the actions from their first night here, right?

"Wow, Tai!" Summer grinned. "He doesn't look that strong, but I think you have competition!"

"What?" Tai came to life. "No way! He doesn't have any muscle!"

"See for yourself." She said flatly.

"I'm not hanging from his arm…"

"No silly," Summer laughed. "You can do guy things." He stared at her like she was growing a horn on her head before it finally clicked.

"Arm wrestle!" He looked at Qrow like an excited puppy. "Let's arm wrestle!"

"I'm not gonna' arm wrestle you!" Qrow exclaimed as he glanced at Tai's bulging biceps. "You'll snap me in half!"

"It's cuz he's scared," Summer poked at him.

"Qrow isn't scared," Raven said flatly, before just delivered the final blow to his already dismal confidence. "He just knows not to fight a losing battle."

"Oh buuurrrrn," Summer pretended to hide her mouth and whispered in a loud voice.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis," Qrow said sarcastically. How lovely of her to suddenly decide to be snarky in front of their partners.

"You're welcome." Wait, was she kidding or did she think he was actually thanking her? Holy crap, they needed to work on her people skills.

 _Flap flap flap… Caw!_ A bird flapped its way to a nearby tree and called out, drawing a brief glance from the obsidian haired teenager just long enough for it to see her acknowledge it. It cocked its head questioningly at Raven and she veered away in shame. Now ignored, it took off into the distance and Raven became slightly irritated. It had only been a few days and they were already trying to check in on her? Seriously?

"So Rose, since we don't have class, you wanted to go into town today?" Summer let herself swing to a still and frowned at Raven.

"Summer…" The white clad girl said with a huff and dropped from Qrow's arm, wondering why Raven insisted on using her last name. Qrow certainly had no issue with it."You can call me Summer and yeah. I need to stop somewhere and then we can grab the stuff for you."

"Alright," Raven threw her hands up. "Let's get going then." If she were to be honest, she was genuinely interested to see this engineering in action. It could make her a useful enough pawn later down the road. Complete honesty would be to say she was curious about Summer's hobbies outside of that damn phone… or her unnerving antics…

Still, the girl's happy demeanor made for a challenging enough to read defense mechanism, but even with as disinterested as the blonde oaf also acted, they both seemed to want to find "the right people" for their inner circle. The twins could fake that. Irritating as the idea was, it could be tolerated… to a degree… She'd only be pretending … right?

"Wh- what are you doing?!" Summer grabbed Raven's hands and started pulling her long.

"You said, _let's go_!" The shorter haired girl pulled harder with excitement. "So stop being a Miss Moody Broody Pants and let's go!"

"Yo, dude," Qrow threw his hands back and spoke to Tai. "She's a bit on the hyper side."

" _A bit_ is an understatement. I can barely keep up with her, man. Honestly, she wears me out!" Shoulders sagging, Tai lamented as he lagged behind the girls a bit to have his own conversation with Qrow. It only seemed fair that if Summer could cling to Raven, he could entertain the idea of having a bro of his own. "I really do hope this team works out. I mean, by now, other teammates would have already been trying to get transferred away from us and you guys are sticking around so far."

"You two just have a lot of pent up energy and don't get out much," Qrow pointed, recalling what they had to go through in order to leave the school grounds for a few hours today. A foreign concept to Qrow, Summer and Tai had to submit paperwork to request to leave the school grounds – _only_ Summer and Tai had to. At first, Raven hadn't understood why they couldn't just go into town like every other student, but the longer they were around these two, the more they learned that they had special circumstances. Generally, the two wouldn't be permitted off school grounds unless supervised by an approved faculty member, but the headmaster approved it, saying that there didn't seem to be much concern as long as they were accompanied by their partners and stayed in crowded areas... _also_ an unusual stipulation… "We just need to get you two out more."

"Heh, yeah," Tai laughed darkly. This was possibly the first time Qrow had seem him with an expression other than happiness or neutrality. "I just… I want her to enjoy herself and it'd be nice for her to make some new friends while she still can…"

"Is there something going on with Summer?" That was… an unusual thing for him to say and Qrow had to wonder: Did Summer have some sort of special circumstance unique to her? "You're implying she doesn't have a lot of time. Is she dying or something?"

"Oh, uh," he scratched at his cheek. "Did I say something like that?"

"No, it just **sounded** like that."

"Eh," Tai shrugged dismissively and motioned toward the girls. "I mean, eventually she'll have to grow up, right?" That really sounded like he was trying to avoid the question, but he looked anyway. Watching Summer move back and forth between jumping on Raven and getting swatted away, he snickered as Qrow paled in horror.

"She's gonna' kill her," Qrow whispered to himself.

"Who, Summer?" Tai's face twisted in mock denial as he looked over the girl he deemed to be harmless. "Nah, she wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Not her! Raven!" Qrow watched on as his sister was tormented, when Summer suddenly ran off, dragging her behind. "Hey!" Qrow chased after them and Tai jogged close behind with an amused grin. How could he think this was funny?

"If you don't take your hands off me, I will choke the living shit out of you!"

"Oooo," Summer squealed as she fled behind Tai. "You're testy!"

"Raven, c'mon!" Qrow stood in front of Raven, blocking her way before she could give chase. "Can it really be that bad?"

"She keeps trying to touch my sides and it feels weird!" As if to prove her point, Summer wiggled her fingers with a sinister smile.

"… You mean, she keeps trying to tickle you?" Tai laughed as Qrow put together Summer's crime.

"Guilty as charged, your honor!" Summer giggled, but Qrow didn't return her amusement. "Oh, c'mon. You can't be a sourpuss **all** the time, Raven. Brighten up a little bit!"

"What would you know, Rose?" Raven gritted her teeth. "Neither of you would understand what it's like to live with Darkforge." Summer's breath hitched and her happy façade dropped into something strangely vacant. Well, at least she was being a bit more serious.

"Hey, I understand that it's difficult but isn't it something that can be worked with?" Tai tried to help them reach an understanding by asking about the problem. They hadn't been very open with each other about much in the way of their personal lives. "It's like your brother is able to set his aside with no problem, but you embrace yours so maybe it's harder?"

"It's not that easy," Raven crossed her arms with a grouchy look. "I actually cherish what I have."

"Raven and I are polar opposites when it comes to Darkforge," Qrow said as they continued walking into town with the two girls facing away from each other. "I actually really despise having Darkforge, but it doesn't change that I have work to extremely hard to hide it. Sometimes, it takes everything I have. Even after removing the feathers, there are still certain traits. Without the feathers during the night, people think we're vampires because of the red eyes and pale skin. It startles people during the day, but then they remember that the actual Red Eyes can't be out in daylight. It'll be fine since we're with you guys, but normally, we'd have to wear contacts. Then there's the Darkforge itself."

"It must be awful that it doesn't go away." Until now, Summer had been unusually quiet, but even so, her voice was uncharacteristically distant. "That horrible feeling that's neither empty nor full. It burns through your body like acid until you let it loose, but it just replenishes itself all over again and the night just makes it even worse. When the normal people are able to sleep, it builds up and encourages a wickedness inside you that you have to keep buried out of fear that someone will put you down like some sort of monster. You never have anywhere to go for peace of or anyone to talk to for fear that you'll suddenly be labeled some sort of monster and flee from the very humanity that you want so desperately to accept you. It just eats away at what makes you you…"

The twins slowed to a stop as she spoke and Raven dropped her arms. They flashed a puzzled look toward each other, making sure they had both just heard correctly. Disturbingly enough, she had just described it accurately, but there was something a bit more vivid to her description… too vivid…

"Hey, Sum." Even Tai had grown concerned with her sudden change of mood. This was something he hadn't experienced yet. "Are you okay? I've never heard you talk like this before…" Summer came to a stop and slowly turned to look over her shoulder, but what they all saw made them freeze. Tai for a reason of his own, but the twins because of the hollow look in her eyes.

Hands sliding into her pockets, the silver orbs shifted up toward a building and Raven traced her line of sight, landing on a familiar black bird. Heart sinking into her stomach, she panicked that Summer might have realized that the bird had been watching them and even more so when Summer ventured in its direction. Tension grew, as well as the pit in her stomach, as Summer drew closer and she exchanged a look with Qrow who acknowledged the same fear. If she interacted with it, they would have to interfere… but she simply went past it and into whatever the building was… and the bird flew away.

Letting out a heavy sigh, the twins exchanged a look. That was too close for comfort. When Raven spoke to him, she would have to ask that he not follow so closely when he wanted to be noticed. Her partners really did make her nervous, especially with her having yet been able to determine the extent of their abilities. She knew they could see Darkforge and that Summer had something to do with time manipulation, but Tai hadn't even used anything besides his bare fists.

"Tai, the way you were talking about Summer earlier was kinda'... strange," Qrow shifted uncomfortably and tried to move the focus away from the bird. Maybe they could get a little info about their team leader. "But I have to ask, is Summer a Werebeast?"

"Pfffft, no," Tai grimaced and fell back onto a bench, covering his mouth as he thought. "Not even close. We're both about as human as you can get."

"That seems inaccurate," Raven pointed out suspiciously, noting the alarmed look in his eye. Whatever it was, there was something there that he had just thought about. "You were both labeled Freaks the other day."

"Eh, we're each one of a kind," he shrugged and sat down, waiting for Summer to come back out. "What can I say? She's just really empathetic toward your people's plight. I told you – she met some White Fang before and got familiar with the Faunus cause. It wouldn't surprise me if she had a better understanding than I do. I know I'll never have to endure Darkforge, so I can't bother familiarizing with it on that level. I'm just not capable, but she's trying to cram as much as she can into her life. I guess that includes experiencing other people's emotions."

"That's bullshit," Raven frowned. "You just made this look. There's something else there and you and I both know it."

"You met Summer, what, once five years ago for all of a two minute exchange?" Disdain laced his voice and what was possibly the true Tai came out. "You wouldn't know anything about her," he pointed at himself with his thumb. "I've had to put her back together into something that could even remotely be recognized as a functional human. I was 11 when they put rebuilding the mental state of a broken nine year old on me. She lost everything she ever had and she's just gonna' lose it all over again!" He buried his face in his hands. "It just isn't fair… They're asking too much…" A hand patted against his shoulder.

"Tai, you know I appreciate you right?" His stopped with Summer's voice. Had she heard everything he had said? "I don't expect you to always be by my side. We'll inevitably separate whether we want to or not. A day will come where you and I will look at each other for the last time and never see each other again." Every word broke his heart even and he didn't get how she could say that with such warmth in her eyes. "That's out of our control, but at least we have a say in how we live now, and I'll be here until that time… or until you're sick of me!" She grinned a stupid smile and pulled him forward and put a fist to the air in false triumph. "Let's go get their stuff!" The outstretched fist turned into a wide stretch, leaving the twins to ponder what sort of things the two had going on. They couldn't be too sure, but having learned they were connected to the Schnee, it was a safe bet to say they had something to do with it.

"Soooo, you're in a way better mood…" Tai looked her over, but there was nothing different. "I don't get it. You didn't buy anything."

"Just because I don't have it doesn't mean I didn't buy anything," she said matter-of-factly. "I just happened to order a service. That's all."

"So what was i-" A finger to his face silenced him.

"That, my friend," she drew the same finger to her own lips. "Is a secret!" She eyed Raven and grinned mischievously at her, making the Faunus nervous. "Let's go grab your stuff and I'll try to get started on it if it's not too late!"

 **ooOOoo**

Sitting here watching Summer in the workshop had actually been sort of boring. She had decided to put each one of them together at the same time, rather than individually, in order to maintain consistency and ensure she made them the same – because twinsies, right? Ugh. If being a twin had ever been a bane on her existence, it stood that now it was at its worst.

Looking out the window, she felt herself lulling to sleep, until that damn bird reappeared in her view. It pecked at the glass of the window and cocked its head impatiently. Internally, she rolled her eyes, but outwardly, she gave a slight nod. She didn't even know what she would say, but this was bad. He had just caught her slacking off.

"What did Tai mean when he said you were broken?" Raven suddenly blurted out and Summer froze. Clearly caught off guard, she shifted uncomfortably and Raven realized her error. "N-nevermind, if I've touched a sore subject."

"You remember how you and I met a few years ago?" Summer waited for Raven to acknowledge her with a nod before she continued. Summer looked down and shifted herself again. "Well… my… my family… A-about half a year before that, the Council murdered my family… The Xiao Long monks took me in after that… A close friend of Mom's dropped me off with Tai's family."

Now it made sense. Raven had always thought the girl who saved her seemed off. Even now, Summer still had those qualities, but there was more on top of it. She felt like Summer was wearing a mask on top of a mask. From Tai's words earlier, it was clear to her that Summer even had one up around him. There were layers to the girl and she couldn't be sure which one was the real one, if any of those even were.

Summer lived with the Xiao Long monks. This explained her not living in the home Raven had followed them back to. After that night, they had probably panicked and Tai's family probably moved into the temple itself… But there was an alarming part of Summer's story that also explained the amount of effort it took to leave the school grounds and raised an even bigger question. Summer was obviously in hiding and Tai was her guardian, so why was the Council after her?

"I can see the gears turning in your head," Summer gave a dark laugh and pressed a piece of solder close to the soldering iron, letting pool on the chip's surface. "By now, you've probably realized that I'm a special case."

"I've… had ideas," Raven glanced away. "But somewhere along needing approval to leave the school grounds, I began to consider that it might be more than I believed." Summer hummed in approval, as she repeated the action. She had such a focused look in her eyes that made Raven feel drawn in. How could this be the same girl from earlier today?

"I would have thought it was the part where I have friends in the White Fang."

"That's dangerous, Summer!" Didn't she know that the White Fang hated humans? "You shouldn't deal with them! They'll betray you or even worse!"

"Well, look at you being so worried about little ol' me!" Raven huffed at the grin Summer sent her and the silver-eyed girl returned to her work. "Tai doesn't realize that my mom's friend that left me with with the monks is really high up in the White Fang now. He might pee himself if he realizes just how close that guy was standing to him hahaha!" Wait, Summer knew White Fang **officials**?!

"Why would a White Fang official help you, though?"

"Does it bother you to think that humans and Faunus can be compassionate toward one another?" Summer tilted her head with a sly look on her face and Raven thought back to Summer's various kindnesses toward her, as well as the actions Raven had mistaken for ill-intent.

"It's not that it bothers me," Raven mumbled. "It's that people can mask their intentions. We only help each other when there is something to be gained." …That's why Raven was talking to Summer, right? Because Summer served a purpose for her. There was no other reason for her to be paying attention to the girl… right?

"It's not like I don't gain anything from being around you, so you're right." Summer openly admitted to the accusation and Raven felt something cold in her chest. "But isn't it like that everywhere?"

"What do you mean?"

"In a symbiotic relationship, at least one participant benefits. Take me and Tai for instance," Summer offered without looking up. "Tai is like family to me – always has and always will be. I'm protected by him and he supports me emotionally. That's what I get in return for doing the same. When both benefit, it's called a mutual relationship and those are good. Even you and your brother are like that," she smiled. "But when someone benefits and another is harmed, like vampires, it's called parasitic… I suppose I also have that quality because of what I am…" Summer drifting off in her thoughts.

"Human?" Raven wondered out loud and Summer came back to reality.

"Huh? Oh," she shook herself back to normal. "Yeah, I suppose so, haha." Summer was leaving something out, but she couldn't be sure what it was. "While my friend has human friends, he realizes that peace also requires action and mom supported that behind the scenes. Unfortunately, the Council hopes to appeal to the Fang's anti-human sentiments, so things have to be handled carefully. If there is one thing I'd like to do, it's help to sway the Xiao Long toward supporting his cause. It would be a huge step for the Fang and make a huge statement to the world."

"How would you do that?" Summer giggled in response.

"Well, maybe if I married Tai, I could convince him when he becomes the head of the temple." What?! Why would she do that? Weren't they like siblings to each other?... Well, it would be just like her own parents… There wasn't really any love there. They'd married for power since that was what the Branwens held dear – just like tradition. Still though, this didn't seem fitting for someone like Summer. Her freedom had already stagnated and even Raven could see that someone like her needed that to thrive.

Summer's social skills were quite strange when it came to those outside Tai, and even those were quite… _unique_ was a word. Tai wasn't helping with that though. Sure, he felt that whatever was going on was unfair, but he seemed to only want to make the problems manageable and help her remain complacent. It felt like they had both given up on the idea of freedom from this cage of a school they were supposed to live in.

"Do you like Tai?" Summer stopped what she was doing again and looked at her with a strange expression. It was fond and Summer's lips curled into a soft smirk.

"My my," Summer shrugged. "Only officially known each other for a few days and you're already jealous? You move fast, Miss Branwen!"

"What! No. I." Caught off guard, Raven sputtered across her words. "I wouldn't!"

"Oh, what's a poor girl to do," Summer lamented as she snapped a case shut and winked at her. "I do like the fast ones!" Raven froze at the suggestiveness of her words. Was she… flirting with her? Like, seriously? Humans didn't flirt with her. They feared her! And made fun of her! That must be it…

"I don't appreciate being made fun of, Rose," Raven took a serious tone and narrowed her eyes at her. "The two of you have a strange relationship that I am trying to better understand." Why was she still staring at her so fondly?!

"I know," Summer's smile grew more affectionate and she rest her cheek on her hands. "I wasn't making fun of you. I'm teasing with you. It's friendly. I… enjoy this."

"You enjoy making fun of me?!"

"No…" Summer paused for a moment, considering whether it was too much to speak her mind or not and decided that Raven was awkward enough with human interactions to not draw strange conclusions from her words.. "You… I'm enjoying you…" Suddenly, Raven felt her anger subside. Instead, confusion took its place. No one had ever described her as enjoyable before – maybe intimidating, disinterested, or hostile, but not _enjoyable_. "You're refreshing. You're not forcing yourself to be any particular way. You're natural – untainted by the Schnee superiors that coach people on how to interact with me or the people who are taught to hate me for being different. Even Tai can be fake, but you aren't. You've been constantly on edge around me, but that hasn't changed how you've interacted with me. It's a very attractive feature in a person, Raven – no matter what anyone says."

"Attractive?"

"Haha, don't worry," Summer closed her eyes and smiled. "You strike me as someone off limits to humans." That comment stung for some reason. Why did it bother her that Summer had this opinion? Her line of thinking was correct. Branwens did not indulge themselves with humans. "As for me and Tai, I don't really have the option to decide whether I like him or not. It's not up to me."

"Why?" Surely, Summer at least had a say in her choice of partner, right?

"This isn't really something I want to talk about," Summer's smile faltered and left Raven with a strange pang in her chest. "I just want to focus on happy things."

"Does this also have to do with your parents?" No answer… Raven reached out awkwardly to touch Summer's hand and the silent girl looked at her curiously. Laughing at the nervous blushing wreck in front of her, Summer hugged her.

"Thank you," she drew closer to Raven's ear. "We'll work on making you more comfortable with being comforting next time."

"I-I wasn't trying to be comforting." Raven crossed her arms in protest. What was it with this girl? There wasn't a right or wrong answer with her! She just constantly teased her!

"Maybe being more open with your feelings should be on that list too."

 **ooOOoo**

 **AN: Looks like Raven has some internal debates going on and a lot of curiosity about Summer… and some jealousy towards Tai… Calm down! You've been at Beacon for like a week! Anyway, soooo, next chapter, Raven and Summer try to kill each other (sort of, cuz Summer's also kind of not serious half the time)! Fun times! Talk about one step forward and about 12 back! Let's see how that goes over!**

 **Reviewer Response:**

 **GrnDrgnzrd** **: I was watching a Harry Potter marathon when it hit me what I had done lol. I was like… damn… But it does work for this story. I mean, there's always "houses" in some form of most stories.**


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